Oz calling all finance IT specialists

London-based investment banking IT staff who fancy a change of scene are more than welcome in Sydney.

Australian IT recruiters say the country's banks are suffering a dearth of technology talent, and are looking to remedy this by casting recruitment nets further afield.

"Technology hiring here is more buoyant than it has been for the past few years," says Jim Cook, principal consultant at Sydney finance recruiter Derwent Executive. "Demand hasn't been fulfilled locally, so banks have to sponsor candidates who want to move to Australia for three to five years. It's not an easy process, but video conferencing has certainly made it easier."

Cook says the Australian IT market is dominated by four banks: Macquarie, Citigroup, JP Morgan and Deutsche. Two of those (Cook declined to name which), are growing aggressively. He says demand is strongest for developers and project managers who combine deep technical knowledge with an understanding of the trading business. Messaging and networking specialists are also increasingly popular.

Anyone who does emigrate is unlikely to do so for the money. Cook says a top developer with derivatives knowledge and five year's experience working on front office trading systems can expect to earn a total of AU$180,000 (77,000). In the City of London, similar individuals are typically paid twice as much.

Equally, senior technologists are likely to find it hard to find a role in the vicinity of Bondi Beach. Stuart Packham, associate director at the Sydney branch of Michael Page International, says banks are increasingly centralising their IT operations for the region in Hong Kong or Singapore. "Our view is that this will reduce the number of executive-level IT roles in Australia," he says. "But we expect to see locally-based IT resources for support and development roles."